And amid presentation of the Moonman, Madonna honored the late, great Aretha Franklin, noting: "Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life. I left Detroit when I was 18, $35 in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer. After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to auditions for musical theatre. I heard the pay was better. I had no dreams to be a professional singer. I got cut from every audition...not pretty enough. Not enough enough. And then one day, a french disco sensation was looking for dancers for his world tour."

Cabello, on the other hand, honored Madonna with her acceptance speech.

"My hands are literally shaking," she said. "I am never gonna forget this moment ever in my life. Madonna, I love you so, so much. I've seen every single music video of yours, I've seen every single documentary of yours, you've inspired me so much, and for that reason, this is a surreal moment and i love you. Seriously. I can't believe it. Video of the Year, wow. Thank you so much all of my fans for voting. I want to thank Dave Myers for being such an incredible director and collaborator and for putting up with me blowing up his phone every time we make a music video."